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Detail Pages
The White Swan Hotel, Stratford Central, Stratford-Upon-Avon
Stratford-Upon-Avon
CV37 6NH
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The White Swan Hotel
The White Swan is a smart Fulllers pub, hotel and restaurant that was very quiet when I visited on a recent midweek evening. The entrance opens up to a front seating area with purposely distressed sofas and sofa chairs as well as two fireplaces. More seating is found to the left where there’s another fireplace and towards the rear is an L-shaped bar counter. This supports standard and premium keg alongside nine handpumps. Only London Pride, ESB and Dark Star’s Orbiter were available. To the right of the entrance is an L-shaped dining area where all the tables have candles and towards the rear are two more small seating areas on the way to the toilets. There are function room adverts, I’m not sure if there is a function room tucked away or if the different seating areas are available for hire. I found the barmaid to be a bit curt, but the other staff were very friendly. I’d pop back in if passing.
On 12th November 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5238 recommendations about 5206 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Delboy 20 left this review about The White Swan Hotel
Expensive pub with the range of Fullers beers you would expect to see. Worth a visit.
On 3rd November 2018
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 1656 recommendations about 1556 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The White Swan Hotel
Very attractive Fuller's bar, restaurant and hotel with a tastefully refurbished but ultra-traditional interior to please to visitors looking for olde Stratford without the sawdust... The multi-room layout has been partially opened out, but there remains a good deal of separation between the various seating / dining areas. Also has a small patio area out front. Pride, ESB, Summer Ale and Red Fox were available from a total of nine handpumps, but the price of the latter (£4.40) was by far the most expensive I found in Stratford.
On 17th September 2017
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about The White Swan Hotel
A good sized and attractive looking pub / hotel in the centre of town, there is a courtyard garden at the side of the pub and a number of different rooms internally, including a quite elegant looking restaurant area to the right where all the tables were laid up with wine glasses, white starched napkins and so on.
The main bar is at the front left of the pub and this is an attractive room with plenty of wonky thick black beams on the uneven ceiling as well as very old supporting pillars. Leaded windows looked out on to the street and there was an old fire-place with a log fire which was a pleasant touch on a cold February afternoon. As might be expected, various Shakespeare paraphernalia was dotted around including a bust of the bard and various posters from his plays. The paintwork was predominantly a khaki shade of green which seemed perhaps an odd choice given the building’s history whilst the flooring was a mixture of parquet wood and flagstones. Overall, whilst this was certainly a pleasant pub, it somehow felt not quite as “olde worlde” as I would have expected, although it was difficult to put my finger on why exactly. Perhaps some of the refurbishments over the years hadn’t been quite as sympathetic as they could have been.
Food wise, the menu was a step or two up from your usual “pub grub”, with the cheapest of the main courses coming in at £11.95 and going up to £25 or so for some of the steaks. That said, your usual pub dishes such as fish & chips, burger or cottage pie were among the options offered. As though to emphasise the pub’s up market dining credentials, a large wine cellar with a wrought iron gate across it was just next to the dining room entrance.
Beers on tap were Bengal Lancer, Fuller’s ESB and London Pride, whilst the solitary cider was a pleasant Cornish Orchards. Prices seemed expensive with two halves coming in at £4.85.
On 27th February 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1948 recommendations about 1861 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Peter Rydings left this review about White Swan Hotel
Nice worth a look but expensive
On 23rd June 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 122 recommendations about 122 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about White Swan Hotel
A Fullers tied house with a magnificent interior with many Elizebethan original features and some very classy furniture and fitments.There is a small locked up wine cellar on display,two front section with real fireplaces on either side of the entrance and a charming rear snug beyond the raised island bar.Lighting is restrained and atmospheric and the restaurant exquisite with a very romantic feel.Your better half will be impressed.
London Pride,ESB,Oliver Island (decent) and "Gales" Redwood was avaiable from the handpumps and the service was polite and friendly.There is also a charming side courtyard where you can eat al fresco close to the hotel entrance.The menu is expensive with starter £7,Mains around £20 but pub food options around £12 and of course most pints will set you back £4 but it's worth paying up to wander around and admire the superb interior.
On 5th June 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about White Swan Hotel
Once through the doors the interior is even more impressive than the exterior. There were four ales on handpump from the Fullers range. I went for the London Pride, which was in great shape, but prices were top end. The food menu here looked good, so next I would like stop for a bite to eat.
On 22nd June 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about White Swan Hotel
With a prime central location overlooking the American Fountain, the White Swan is a smart, historic pub and hotel, well positioned to take advantage of the passing tourist trade. The pub has a pleasant multiple room interior which, despite feeling like most areas are set up for diners, still provides a pleasant environment for the drinker as well. As you enter, there are seating areas either side of the front door. To the right there is an impressive fireplace surrounded by a mix of sofas and similarly comfy chairs. A door on the right hand wall leads into another room with what seemed to be more formal table and chair arrangements – perhaps a dining room? On the left hand side of the pub there are some lovely carved settles and a group of comfy chairs in front of a small fireplace before the room moves through to a darker area which again appears to be more suited to those wanting food. The floor is a mix of quarry stone and woodblock with large rugs over it and there are loads of ancient looking beams and supports throughout, with the ones at the front of the pub looking particularly old and impressive. The servery can be found in a dimly lit space to the rear of the pub, which looks and feels a lot more modern than the other rooms and also acts as the hotel reception. Walls throughout have been covered with various Shakespeare related pictures, quotes, busts etc… in what was probably the most overt display I saw in any pub in town. Given the bright weather outside, several drinkers were sat on the front pavement tables which have good views over the road to the aforementioned fountain.
As with the nearby Old Thatch Tavern, this is now a Fuller’s pub and four of their beers were available at the bar – Pride, ESB, Bengal Lancer and Gale’s Seafarers. I gave the Bengal Lancer a try and thought it was in fairly good shape.
This is clearly a nice old building that’s worth a spending bit of time to explore, but the place felt a little bit over commercialized for my liking and although it was fine for a quick pint before heading for my train home, it didn’t strike me as somewhere I’d want to stay much longer.
On 27th December 2012
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about White Swan Hotel
Nice old building with features inside & out, close to the market.
Roomy inside.
No real ale on my visit here though
On 15th October 2012
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
ROB Camra left this review about White Swan Hotel
This is an ancient bar and lounge within the White Swan Hotel. As you enter the hotel take either of the first two doors to the right for the lounge or the third door to enter the small bar area. The lounge has low ceilings, a fantastic mural on the wall protected behind glass, bookcases, wood panelling and mullioned windows. There are leather sofas, huge armchairs around a central fireplace. It’s a step back in time, a fantastic place for a quiet pint in classic surroundings. The small bar area is also wood panelled and has 3 handpumps on the bar. They were serving GK IPA, Pride and Purity Mad Goose. The Mad Goose was a very good pint. Now for the only bit of bad news, the prices are very modern. This was the most expensive place we drank in the whole two days, £7.10 for a Mad Goose and a 175ml glass of red wine, the rest of Stratford will get to this level in about mid 2012 I suspect. It’s still a great place and despite the prices we called back the following night.
On 23rd April 2010
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3223 recommendations about 3134 pubs]